Campbell up with leaders

US TOUR BYRON NELSON CLASSIC:AMERICANS Chad Campbell, Matt Kuchar, Pat Perez, Dickey Pride and Ryan Palmer held the clubhouse lead in the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Texas on six-under par yesterday.

Campbell picked up four birdies in a bogey-free 66 yesterday as he added to his opening 68.

“It’s been a little bit of a long year and I played some not-so-good golf,” said the Texas native. “It’s nice to play a couple of good rounds. There is a long ways to go but I’m definitely happy with the way things are going right now.”

Fellow Texan Palmer, the overnight leader, recovered from two dropped shots early on to return a level-par 70 yesterday,

“I stayed in the moment and survived,” he said.

Palmer finished his round with a birdie at the 18th. “To birdie the last hole is an awesome feeling going into tomorrow.”

If the top of the leaderboard doesn’t change, Campbell and Palmer would be playing partners in the final group today.

The pair live “probably a 5-wood away” from each other in nearby Colleyville, Palmer said. They’ve known each other since high school in west Texas.

Pride went to seven-under before a dropped shot at the 17th saw him join his fellow countrymen on six-under.

Kuchar was two under for the day thanks to a topsy-turvy round featuring six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Defending champion Keegan Bradley is right in there challenging. He was two under for the day after mixing six birdies with four bogeys and finished on five-under, alongside Japanese golfer Ryuji Amada.

After a string of pars, Amada finally picked up birdies on the par five 16th and par four 18th.

Pádraig Harrington remained well in contention after a one-under-par round of 69 to be three under overall.

Starting on the 10th, the Dubliner immediately picked up a shot at the par four. He moved to two under for the day when he birdied the par five 16th but gave that shot back with a bogey at the par four third and parred in from there.